Spring clip for mounting building panels



INVENTOR.

CHARLES ROBERT KLOTZ ATORNEY Unite States Patent() 3,044,583 SPRING CLIP FOR MUNTING BUILDING PANELS Charles Robert Klotz, 4241 W. 50th St., Cleveland 9, Ohio Filed Feb. 26, 1960, Ser. No. 11,280

2 Claims. (Cl. 189-34) This invention pertains to a spring clip for mounting building panels, window frames and the like in buildings.

Modern architecture is going away from Walls of stone, brick, wood and-the like, especially for large oliice buildings, .and tends toward large glass panels or panels made of two thicknesses of enameled steel with insulation between the walls. Such =walls are easier and less expensive to assemble and produce buildings which are more pleasing to the eye. Also, since the glass and enamel sections Weigh much less than -a comparable area of brick or stone the frame of the building can be much lighter. Construction of this kind has an outstanding advantage in that the panels are made at a factory and installed at the job, as compared to stone work which must be done on the job.

In order for paneled buildings to compete with previous types of construction it is essential that the cost of installing the panels be kept to a minimum, and of course the installed panel must be securely locked to the build ing so that it cannot be pushed out of place either from high winds outside of the building or from someone pushing against the panel from inside the building. AAdditionally, it is desirable for a maintenance man to be able to remove arpanel or a :window `frame if necessary, but

it is not essential that the panel or frame be easily removed since the panels or frames very seldom have to be replaced.

lt is an object `of my invention .to provide a spring clip for mounting a building panel within a mounting frame which is part of the building; the clip being strong and holding the panel to the -rame against high loads normal to the plane of the panel.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sprin-g clip for holding a panel in a mounting frame, the panel being removable if necessary.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a spring clip which will support and hold a heavy lenamel steel panel of large size in place in a building frame, and which will not over -a period of time acquire a permanent set due to the weight of the panel. Such a permanent set, if permitted, would allow the panel to slip down, thereby opening up a crack along its top edge. Another object of this invention is to provide a spring clip for holding and supporting a heavy building section within a frame, and to so shape and proportion the spring clip in respect to the frame that the shape of the clip is maintained by the frame, thereby aiding the clip in maintaining its shape against a permanent set due to the weight ofthe building section.

A further object of the invention is to provide a spring clip for connecting a building `section into a -frame in the building and to minimize the amount of inside and outside caulking necessary to make the section weather tight.

For a better understanding of the present invention, together with other and further objects thereof, reference is had to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

N ith reference to the drawings- FIGURE 1 is an enlarged section of a portion of a panel and the panel frame, showing the spring clip of this invention securing the panel in place.

FIGURE 2 is an isometric View showing a portion of the spring clip.

- the ends of the panels 10, `11.

'ice

FIGURE 3 is an edge view of a building panel, showing the spring clip of this invention mounted on three of the four edges thereof; it being understood that the clip may also be applied to the fourth edge.

The building panels to which the spring clip may be applied Ycan be quite large, and for this reason FIGURE 3 is shown broken at several locations. The panels may be of glass, or they may be entire window frames. However, the spring of this invention is highly suited for mounting enameled steel building panels which are approximately 4 x 4 in size. -It is in connection with this use that the spring clips are hereafter described.

As shown in FIGURE l, the building panel is formed of two sheets of steel 10 and 11 suitably enameled, with the back or outside panel formed to tit within the front or inside panel 11, and held together by a plurality of heavy screws 12.

Within the enclosure formed by the two sheets of meta-l there is a pad of fiberglass insulation 13, corrugated cardboard or other insulating material. The above described building panel is known to the art and per se is not part of this invention.

The panel is mounted in a channel member 15 m-ade of aluminum or the like, which `extends completely around all four sides of the panel.

The channel member 1S has a horizontally extending web member 16, a vertically extending outer flange 17, and Ia vertically extending inner flange 13.

`FIGURE Z shows a small section of the spring clip 20 of the invention. It comprises a long length of stainles-s steel or the like, whichV is rolled into the `form shown, andwhich has unthreaded holes 21 spaced to accommodate the screws 12 used to assemble the double-walled panel. The spring clip 20 is cut to length, and preferably each clip is slightly shorter than the length of the edge of the panel to which it is to be connected. This is shown in FIGURE 3. The clip 20 does not extend to might have la panel which is about 44 X 48", and the spring clips would extend to within about 1/2 of each edge of the panel.

As shown in FIGURES l and 3 the spring clip\is secured to each of the four edges of the panel by means of the screws .12 which hold the panel together.

The spring clip 20 has a dat section 30 through which the screw holes 21 extend. To one side of the flat section 30 there is lan inclined face 31 which terminates in a sharp edge 32, and to the other side of the flat section 30 there is a second inclined face 33 terminating in an upwardly curved portion 35.

Four spring clips are connected, respectively, on the four edges, of the building panel with the flat section 30 against an inwardly turned edge l11 of the front face 11 of the panel, thereby providing stable contact over a relatively wide area between the heavy panel and lthe spring clip.

The panel with the spring 'clips attached is connected to a building by pushing it into place in the direction of the arrow 36, in FIGURE l. Thus the panels are assembled from inside the building. The upwardly tu-med end 35 of the spring clip rides up over the ilange 18 and then snaps down against the -web portion 16. When the edge 37 of the spring clip engages the liange 17 the face 31 of the spring clip snaps down -behind the flange 18 and engages the inner wa-ll thereof. It is essential that the width of the spring clip from edge -32 to edge 37 be substantially equal to the width of the web `16 so that when assembled the clip Wil-l engage the inner faces of both nan-ges 17 and 1 8. In this position the weight of the panel is transferred to the aluminum mounting channel and the clip maintains its arched position. This prevents the spring clip from gradually acquiring a permanent set,y

A typical installation resulting in a gap at the top thereof.

It is important that the curved portion 35 ofthe springextend upwardly toward the ange 17 at Isuch an Yangle that its edge 37 digs into the softer aluminummetal of the mounting ilange, and -doesnot curl up and permit the arched portion of the clip to sag.r

Excellent results have been obtained by a spring Vclip t i whose legf31 makes an angle of about 23Vto the surface -11' yto which it is mounted, and wherein the correspond'- Y ing angle for leg 33' is about 37. The edge portion which terminates-at 37 should malte an angle ofV about 40 with v the yhorizontal. web member 16.

' After the panel has been pushed into place and is held there by the spring clip a rubber-like outside Weather strip 40 may be inserted between leg 17 of `the frame 15 and the panel pontion 10, Vand a rubber-like inside strip 'n 41 may be inserted between leg 18 of frame 15 and the panel portion 11. Thus the joint is made weather and air tight.

While there have been described what are at present considered to be the preferred/embodiments lof this invention, it will 'be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modications lmay be 4made therein without departing from the invention, .and it is, therefore, aimed inthe `appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as vfall Within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

l. A spring cli-p for mounting a building panel within a U-shaped mounting frame which has a Ibottom section and two spaced-apartn-pstanding Walls, comprising, -a length ofspring sheet -metal extending substantially the length of a side of the panel to be mounted within the U-shaped frame, said spring sheet metal in transverse 'cross section having a flat planarcentral portion which abuts against the edge of the panel and is adapted to be connected thereto, and having a lirst and a second corner portion at each end of the central portion, said rst corner portion comprising al lirst straight leg section connected to the central portion and extending away there from at an `angle thereto and terminating in a curved portion which curves back toward the plane of the central portion,` said second corner portion comprising a second straight Vleg section connected to the central portion and extending away therefrom at an angle thereto, said rst corner portion sliding horizontally into said U-shaped frame -with a spring :action'as said curved portion is deected by one wall of said U-shaped mounting frame, and said second straight leg snapping down behind the one wall of said U-shaped frame to complete the assembly of the panel within the frame, said curved por- Vtion of -the spring clip engaging the bottom of the U- shaped channel and its end engaging and digging into the one Wall of the U-shaped channel at the instant the second leg snaps into place behind and engages the other wall of the U-shaped channel member.

Y 2. A .spring clip as set forth in claim 1, further characterized by said spring clip being slightly shorter than the length of the side of the panel to rwhich it is to be connected, whereby said spring clip can be removed from said U-shaped frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,767,814 Johnson oef. 23,V 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 551,684 Y Italy of 1958 

